Any Buddhists in the house?

[pieisexactlythree]

If so, I'd really like to hear your take on some of the metaphysical aspects of Inu Yasha, particularly the sequence of episodes featuring the Living Buddha, Saint Hakushin.  This character, along with the gradual evolution of Kikiyo seem to express the concept that suffering is the product of desire, and that relinquishing it is a means to peace.  Moreover, I think Buddhist philosophy generally underlies much of this series.  Any thoughts on this?

[totemo_oishii]

I'm a Buddhist. I haven't watched much Inu-Yasha though. :/

The way I see it, life is an eternal struggle.
A big part of it is the idea of past lives and reincarnation. If your past life did something bad, you have to pay for it. But you also have to try and live a better life, so your next life will have a good one as well. This is reaching towards enlightenment.

Hope that made sense. ^w^

[pieisexactlythree]

Thanks!  This topic was on my mind because of my experiences last weekend at the Great Vow Zen Buddhist monastery in Clatskanie.

[jaybug]

That beats my only experience with buddhism. Sit on a floor in an uncomforable position and chant na myo ho renge kyo, over and over ad nauseum. Only to find it was a fundraiser for the friggin' group in San Diego, to see who would get to go on a trip to Hawaii. In other words not me! Phbbbt.

Kind of more of a Taoist kind of guy, myself.  I couldn't give up meat. Like I won't give up bacon, sorry Judaism, and Islam.

And no haven't been too up on Inu Yasha either. I don't like trying to start a series in the middle.

Not much about Shinto???

[pieisexactlythree]

And no haven't been too up on Inu Yasha either. I don't like trying to start a series in the middle.

Huh? I started by renting disc one, and proceeded chronologically.  I made it as far as ep 120.

On another note, correct me if I'm wrong, somebody, but for the lay practitioner in Japan, it would seem that Buddhism and Shinto are pretty compatible and not considered mutually exclusive.  After all, they are blended pretty seamlessly in Inu Yasha.

[Pie Row Maniac]

Hahah, America gets its information about Eastern religions from anime...

[pieisexactlythree]

Hahah, America gets its information about Eastern religions from anime...

Well, not really.  This was my first real encounter with the stuff when I read it about 14 years ago, long before I'd even heard of anime, but understanding the cultural context of the anime makes it more interesting.

[jaybug]

Weren't there wars about the Shinto Buddhist schism? They were merged at one point and diverged under Imperial order, at the beginning of the Meiji era? Or did I watch Rurouni Kenshin wrong?

I get my religion from Netflix! Sometimes it is cracked in the mail. olololollahahahahahah